Android Jelly Bean: need to know

New features.

Google this morning unwrapped its latest software confectionary – dubbed Jelly Bean – and it’s smoother and slicker than any Android version yet.

What the internet giant calls Project Butter aims to do away with Android lag for good by running operational tasks simultaneously, shaving precious milliseconds off transitions and launches.

Interface

Jelly Bean has brought some new tricks to its interface, not least the ability to resize widgets to taste, automating the flow of other app icons on the same screen.

Input

There’s bad news for SwiftKey – Google’s improved the keyboard and shrunk its voice database so that you can use voice typing even when there’s no data connection (US English only).

Camera app

Jelly Bean will bring instant picture reviewing to its camera app, and introduce Bluetooth pairing via Android Beam.

Notifications

Google has responded to Apple's Notification Centre with live notifications that allow you to make phone calls, read emails, view (and share) pictures and respond to calendar invites without leaving the notifications pull-down. You’ll also be able to collapse and expand notification panels with a two-finger swipe.

Search

Search has been rewritten from the ground up to incorporate Knowledge Graph. It also uses the same data to respond to voice searches with voice answers. 

Release date

Jelly Bean will head to core devices (Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Motorola Xoom and Nexus S) in mid-July. It’s also offering up a PDK (product development kit) for hardware manufacturers.

This article originally appeared at Stuff.tv